Store Associates

Consumers have high expectations. They expect a personalized, enjoyable shopping experience across all channels at all times. This has put a lot of pressure on retailers. Even though e-commerce continues to flex its muscles, a recent study showed that 97 percent of consumers still find a need to visit stores. But have retailers over-rotated to…

The back-to-school (BTS) shopping season is well underway, with total retail sales projected to reach a whopping $27.8 billion. However, despite claims that Amazon.com is destroying retail, more than half of U.S. consumers are planning to shop for supplies in-store instead of online this year. So, what does this mean for brick-and-mortar retailers? The BTS…

For anybody who has shopped in a brick-and-mortar store, the influence of in-store teams on the shopping experience is no secret. A great experience with a store associate can quickly catapult the brand to the top of a shopper’s favorites list, while a poor interaction or, even worse, the inability to find someone to help,…

There has been a significant shift in what consumers expect from their in-store experiences. Retailers are working harder than ever to deliver a seamless shopping journey for their customers to cater to this change and come out as a winner in a competitive landscape. Only those that transform their stores for innovation will continue to…

The demise of the physical, in-store experience has been greatly exaggerated. Consumers like to go shopping — they really do. However, to match their expectations, retailers will need to deploy emerging technologies to engage with consumers in a more intuitive and automated manner. At the same time, they must commit to investments in innovation that will…

In episode 194 of Total Retail Talks, Executive Editor Joe Keenan interviews April Sabral, vice president of retail sales and operations at DAVIDsTEA, a Canadian specialty tea and tea accessory retailer. Listen in as they discuss DAVIDsTEA's use of an employee engagement app to communicate quickly and directly with store associates, how use of the…

If we learned anything from past retail trends, it’s that the store is still the most important part of the retail experience. Interest in the brick-and-mortar store is everywhere. Target’s CEO has said that the company's stores are its single biggest competitive advantage. Retailers must continue to keep their focus on the store by ensuring…

Target Corp will raise its U.S. minimum wage to $13 an hour in June, from $12 currently, increasing its payroll costs and putting new pressure on rival Walmart to attract retail workers in a tight labor market. Minneapolis-based Target employs over 300,000 workers and runs 1,845 stores in the United States. The company is investing…

Retail has always been a tough game, and increasing demands on brick-and-mortar to differentiate from e-commerce has only made it harder. With more options than ever before, consumers have their pick of the litter, online and offline. Bad experience at one store? Plenty more to try instead. But what drives away customers? Qualtrics recently conducted…